USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 3
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Mr. Adney was born October 29, 1879, in Lebanon, Indiana, and he is a son of Isaac S. and Eva L. (Brown) Adney. The father was a native of Lebanon, and the mother came from near Knoxville, Tennessee. The Adneys came from Maryland to Indiana, first settling near Liberty, later removing to Boone county. Isaac S. Adney was in his earlier life a farmer, but for many years he has been engaged successfully in the milling business, main-
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taining both a sawmill and grain mill, and although he is now past seventy years of age is still active, hale and hearty. Politically, he is a Democrat and he served one term as county commissioner. The mother of our subject also survives.
Roy W. Adney's parents removed with him when he was a year old to a farm near Lebanon and there he lived until he was thirteen years old, in the meantime attending the district schools, and after moving back to Lebanon he studied in the city schools and was graduated from the high school in 1899. He then took a course in Butler College, Irvington, a suburb of In- dianapolis, remaining there three years, then entered the Indiana Law School, where he made an excellent record and from which he was graduated in 1904. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Society, and while in Butler College was business manager of The Butler Collegian, the college paper. He was valedictorian of his class in the law school. Soon after his gradua- tion he formed a partnership for the practice of his profession with ex-Judge T. J. Terhune, of Lebanon, which continued with ever-increasing success until January, 1911, when Mr. Adney formed a partnership with John W. Hornaday. This firm was dissolved January 1, 1914. Mr. Adney practices in all the state and federal courts and has long enjoyed a large and lucrative business. He believes in going into court thoroughly prepared, in devoting his attention to the interests of his clients in an earnest and conscientious manner and in keeping well abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession. As a speaker he is logical, convincing and often truly eloquent.
Mr. Adney is a member of the State Bar Association. Politically, he is a Democrat and has been active in political and public matters for a number of years. In 1909 Governor Thomas R. Marshall appointed him prosecuting attorney of Boone county to fill a vacancy, resulting from the death of Fred Groves and he served two years in a highly acceptable manner. In January, 1909, he was appointed county attorney, which office he still holds, discharg- ing its duties in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Fraternally, he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Adney was married June 19, 1907, to Verna Richey, a daughter of S. H. and Louise (Meade) Richey, of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. To our subject and wife three children have been born, Louise, whose birth occurred
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April 2, 1909; Richard, born March 29, 1911; and Virginia, born July 20, 1912.
Mr. Adney is a member of the Christian church and his wife holds membership with the Episcopalians. They are both prominent in the best social circles of Lebanon and are admired by their many friends for their cul- ture, obliging and unselfish natures. Their cozy home is at 825 North West street, and Mr. Adney's office is in the Farmers Bank building.
T. H. HINSHAW.
There is a great deal in being born under a good eye, one that watches and guards off the error and folly that overtake so many young men. The parents that are able to infuse into their children the spirit of the Spartans- the spirit that can meet any fate and make the most of the world-will see their children grow to years of maturity with excellent habits and splendid principles and see them become exemplary citizens. T. H. Hinshaw, an enterprising young liveryman of Zionsville, Boone county, was fortunate in having intelligent, kind and enterprising parents, who took much pains in his rearing. He was taught from the start the duties of life, not ordinary in- struction, but the higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has been to give him broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him for honorable citizenship.
Mr. Hinshaw was born on the home farm near Carmel, Indiana, January 10, 1883, and is a son of Frank and Anna (Henley) Hinshaw, who live on a farm east of Zionsville, where they are well-known and regarded by all as good citizens. They have seven children, five sons and two daughters. Our subject was reared on the home farm where he did his full share of the work when growing to manhood, and he received his education in the common schools of his neighborhood. When twenty-two years old he married Ida Ortwein, who was born in Boone county, where she was reared and educated. To this union three children have been born, Mildred, Carleton and Anna.
Mr. Hinshaw came to Zionsville some time ago and is now proprietor of a large livery, sale and feed barn, doing an extensive business which is con- stantly growing. He is well-equipped with good horses and buggies and
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always carries a good line of feed of all kinds, and his is one of the most popular establishments of its kind in the county, partly because of his energy and foresight and partly because of his honesty and courtesy in dealing with the public. This has long been a livery and is well-known and popular with the traveling public. Our subject has remodeled his barn and made numer- ous improvements of late and everything is kept in proper place and in good shape. He has new rigs and a standard make automobile. His barn is one hundred by seventy-five feet, giving abundance of room for the accommoda- tion of eighty horses at one time. His barn is centrally located, near the depot.
Politically, Mr. Hinshaw is a Progressive. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
JUDGE WILLETT H. PARR.
Standing out distinctly as one of the central figures of the judiciary of the section of Indiana of which this history treats is the name of Judge Willett H. Parr, of Lebanon. Prominent in legal circles and equally so in public matters beyond the confines of his own jurisdiction, with a reputation in one of the most exacting of professions that has won him a name for dis- tinguished service second to that of none of his contemporaries, there is today no more prominent or honored man in Boone county of which he is a native and which he has always dignified with his citizenship. Achieving success in the courts at an age when most young men are just entering upon the formative period of their lives, wearing the judicial ermine with becom- ing dignity and bringing to every case submitted to him a clearness of per- ception and ready power of analysis characteristic of the learned jurist, his name and work for years have been allied with the legal institutions, public enterprises and political interests of northern Indiana in such a way as to earn him recognition as one of the leading citizens in a community noted for the high order of its talent. A high purpose and an unconquerable will, vigorous mental powers and devotion to duty are some of the means by which he has made himself eminently useful, and every ambitious youth who fights the battle of life with the prospect of ultimate success may peruse with
HON. W. H. PARR
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profit the biography herewith presented. For the judge has not only won success in a chosen field of endeavor, but is popular, possessing to a marked degree the characteristics that win and retain warm friendships. By his kindness and courtesy he has won an abiding place in the esteem of his fellow citizens and by his intelligence, energy and enterprising spirit has made his influence felt among his acquaintances and associates, and as a result occu- pies no small place in the favor of the public.
Judge Parr was born December 24, 1878 on a farm in Center township, Boone county, four miles southwest of Lebanon. He is a son of Jesse A. and Anna M. (Maggard) Parr, both natives of Johnson county, Indiana, but they both came to Boone county when young and were married here. The father was a minister in the Christian church, but in later years he studied medicine and is now a practicing physician in Indianapolis. His wife died when the future Judge was only three months of age, in the spring of 1879, so the lad was reared on the farm of his grandfather, by his grandfather and grandmother, remaining there until he was fifteen years old. His grandmother died when he was ten years of age and his grandfather when he was eighteen years of age. He then became a member of the house- hold of his uncle, Asa A. Maggard, whom he assisted in the general work on his farm meantime attending the district schools. During this period he worked in a sawmill one summer, when he was fourteen years of age, walk- ing two and one-half miles in the morning and back home in the evening. After graduating from the country schools in 1895 he entered the summer term in the Lebanon Normal, and in the fall of 1896, when seventeen years old, he began teaching school, which vocation he followed five years, giving satisfaction to all concerned. In the summer of 1897 he attended the State Normal at Terre Haute and in the summer of 1898 studied at the Marion Normal, thereby completing his literary education as far as schools were con- cerned, but ambitious and industrious he remained a close student and be- came a highly educated man. In the summer of 1898 he became a law student in the office of A. J. Shelby of Lebanon and, making rapid progress, was admitted to the bar of Boone county in April, 1900, and was subsequently admitted to practice in all the state courts and the federal court. He opened an office and began practicing in Lebanon, April 10, 1901, in partnership with Alva D. Swope, under the firm name of Swope & Parr, which continued only a few months, however, our subject then forming a partnership with
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E. O. Rogers, now mayor of Lebanon. This partnership continued from February 1, 1902 until Mr. Parr was elected Judge of the Circuit Court in November, 1908, for a term of six years, which expired November 10, 1914, when he was elected to succeed himself for another term. As an attorney he had been successful from the first and built up an extensive and lucrative practice, taking a position in the front ranks of the local attorneys. He is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association.
Politically, Judge Parr is an uncompromising Democrat and has been active and influential in local political affairs since attaining his majority. In 1902 he was a candidate for the nomination of prosecuting attorney, and after making a splendid race was defeated by but two votes in the conven- tion. In 1904 he was nominated by acclamation for representative to the legislature and while he led his ticket in Boone county, was defeated. He has always been active in party organization, and has been a frequent dele- gate to district and state conventions. He received the nomination for Cir- cuit Judge in 1908 by acclamation and led his ticket in the following election, his majority being three hundred and sixty-five, and he assumed the duties of office November 10, 1908. As judge, Mr. Parr more than met the expecta- tions of his friends and the public, and has so discharged his duties of office as to receive the hearty approval and warm commendation of the bar, with- out regard to party. He brought to the bench a dignity becoming the high position, and in the line of duty, is industrious, careful and singularly pains- taking, which, combined with his sterling honesty and fearlessness of pur- pose, makes him one of the most popular and efficient men ever called to preside over the courts of this circuit. It is but just to say and greatly to his credit that no political prejudice, bias or zeal, was ever allowed to deflect his mind from its honest convictions, and while discharging his official func- tions, personal ties and friendships, as well as his own interests and opinions were lost sight of in his conscientious efforts to render equal and enact justice to those whose affairs were adjudicated in his court. His opinions and decisions attest his eminent fitness for judicial positions, being always lucid, unstrained and vigorous, his statements full and comprehensive, and his analysis and interpretations of the law conspicuous and complete.
Fraternally, Judge Parr is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Encampment, in fact, embracing all branches of Odd Fellow- ship. He and his family are members of the Methodist church.
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The domestic life of Judge Parr began July 16, 1899, when he led to the hymeneal altar a lady of culture and refinement, known in her maidenhood as Carrie B. Billingsly, a daughter of Robert D. and Mary J. (Brenninger). Billingsly, a prominent Boone county family, a complete sketch appearing elsewhere in this work. Mr. Billingsly, who is still living, having been one of our pioneers. His wife departed this life in 1896. Mrs. Parr grew to womanhood in Boone county and received a good education in the local schools. The union of the Judge and wife has been blessed by the birth of three children, living, and two died in infancy, Virlie O. and the other unnamed; the surviving are, Willett H., Jr., born March 18, 1903; Anna Belle, born August 1, 1908; and Ana A., born November 2, 1910.
The Judge is a man of high Christian character and he is active in church and Sunday school work, a member of the official board and a teacher of the men's Bible class.
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JAMES R. BALL, M. D.
Few residents of Lebanon and Boone county have occupied as large a place in the public eye as Dr. James R. Ball and no one has more worthily discharged his manifold duties or shown himself more worthy of the high esteem in which he is held. His life has been filled with activity and useful- ness while his untiring energy and eminent ability have gained for him a conspicuous and honorable place among the distinguished medical men of his day and generation in this section of Indiana, which is noted for the high order of its professional talent. In every sphere of endeavor in which he has taken a part, socially, politically or professionally, his unpretending bear- ing and strict integrity have elevated him in the confidence of his fellow- citizens, and his influence, always potent and salutary, is destined to con- tinue a marked factor for substantial good, long after he ceases from his labors and retires from the busy scenes in which he has so long been a prominent and effective actor.
Doctor Ball was born in Clinton county, Indiana, June 21, 1868. He is a son of James E. and Jane Ann (Irwin) Ball, the former also a native of Clinton county. The Ball family removed from the state of Pennsylvania
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in pioneer days to Dearborn county, Indiana, and later came on to Clinton county, in which the Irwins were also early settlers. Scott Irwin, maternal grandfather of our subject, with several brothers, settled on the "twelve mile prairie" when this country was wild and very little improved, and there the grandfather developed a good farm and became a prominent citizen. James E. Ball devoted the earlier years of his life to farming, later engaging in business in Frankfort from 1881 until his death in 1905, during which period of nearly a quarter of a century, he was one of the leading citizens of that city. His widow still lives in Frankfort.
Doctor Ball spent his early boyhood on the farm, being thirteen years of age when, in 1881, the family moved to Frankfort, where he attended the public schools, having previously been a pupil in the district schools. He was graduated from the Frankfort high school in 1886. During his vacation periods he studied pharmacy and began clerking in a drug store. In the autumn of 1888 he entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, from which he was graduated in 1891, and in May of that year he began prac- ticing his profession at Clarkshill, Tippecanoe county, where he remained until January, 1892, when he came to Lebanon and has been here ever since, having meantime built up a large and lucrative practice which extends all over Boone county and has from the first ranked with the leaders of his pro- fessional brethren. He has remained a close student, keeping fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession. He took a post-graduate course in 1898 in the Chicago Polyclinic Institute. He is not only a general practitioner but a surgeon of more than ordinary ability. He is surgeon for the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company. He is a mem- ber of the Boone County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. Politically, he is a Republican, but has never been very active in public matters, although deeply interested in what- ever tends to the general good of Boone county. He and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has been superintendent of the Sunday school of the local congregation for the past sixteen years, a work in which he takes a great deal of interest. He is a member of the official board of the church and has long been active in church affairs, as is also Mrs. Ball.
Doctor Ball was married September 3, 1891, to Effie D. Fisher, a daugh-
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ter of Samuel P. and Mary E. (Smith) Fisher. The father is now retired, lives in Frankfort, Indiana, where he was formerly a leading business man, and for several years he served as clerk of Clinton county. His wife is de- ceased. Mrs. Ball grew to womanhood in Frankfort and received a good education in the local schools. She is a lady of refinement and is active in the work of the Domestic Science Club, composed of the leading ladies of Lebanon.
The union of the Doctor and wife has been blessed by the birth of two sons, Clarence R., born July 28, 1893; and Robert S., born July 22, 1899. The elder son is now a student in DePauw University, and the younger son is attending the Lebanon high school, each making excellent records.
Doctor Ball has been very successful in a material way and is one of the substantial men of Lebanon. Some time ago he erected the modern and at- tractive building bearing his name, which stands at the corner of Meridian and South streets, Lebanon, one of the most convenient and best business blocks in the city, and is also a popular office building, equipped throughout in a thoroughly up-to-date manner. His commodious home is at 424 North Meridian street, and, the family being prominent in the social life of the community, here their many friends frequently gather, always finding a spirit of genuine hospitality and good cheer prevailing.
AARON J. SMITH.
If there is one thing which distinguishes the American business man from those of any other country it is the faculty with which any and all occupations are readily taken up by him and made successful. In the older countries it has long been customary for the son to follow the father's pur- suits. "Follow your father, my son, and do as your father has done," was a maxim which all sons were expected to adopt. It is in such countries as the United States that full swing can be given to the energies of the individual. A man may choose any business or profession he desires, and he is limited only by competition. He must meet the skill of others and give as good ser- vice as they or he will not get the positions or business. Such adaptation to any work or business is well shown in the career of Aaron J. Smith, a
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widely known and successful merchant of Lebanon. He has turned his hand to many things and proved that farming was not the only occupation which he could make successful. He is one of our most substantial and repre- sentative native-born citizens, being the scion of a sterling pioneer family of Boone county, members of which have figured more or less conspicuously in the affairs of the same for three quarters of a century, and he has been careful to keep untarnished the bright escutcheon of the honored family name.
Mr. Smith was born on a farm in Perry township, Boone county, March 8, 1856. He is a son of Eli and Patsey A. (Kemper) Smith. The father was born in Kentucky in 1828, and was a son of Aaron J. and Fannie F. Smith. The paternal grandfather of our subject was born about 1800 in Kentucky where he spent his earlier years, migrating to Indiana in the early thirties, and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the govern- ment in Boone county, which he cleared and developed by hard work and perseverance. He was thus one of the pioneers in this locality, and he endured the usual hardships and privations incident to life in a new country. Here he prospered, becoming a leading farmer, and his death occurred on his place here in 1878. Politically, he was a Democrat, and in religious matters was a member of the Baptist church. His wife was also born in Kentucky in the year 1800. Her maiden name was Thomas. She died in Boone county in 1889 at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Eli Smith was reared on the old homestead and he received such educational advantages as the early- day schools afforded. He devoted his life successfully to general farming and stock raising, with the exception of two years when he served as county treasurer, from 1882 to 1884. His record is as an open book, for he was always known to be scrupulously honest, straightforward and unselfish in his every-day life, was public-spirited, obliging and hospitable, and was well- known throughout the county and admired by all classes. Politically, he was a Democrat, and in religious matters a Baptist. His death occurred in June, 1894. His wife, Patsey Kemper, was born in Kentucky, in 1825, and was a daughter of Joel and Elizabeth Kemper, natives of Kentucky, from which state they came to Indiana in 1830 and located near Indianapolis, later re- moving to Boone county, and here spent the rest of their lives on a farm. The death of Mrs. Eli Smith occurred in 1905. Like her husband she was greatly beloved by a wide circle of friends.
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Aaron J. Smith, of this sketch, was reared on the home farm where he did his full share of the work when a boy, and he received his early edu- cation in the common schools, which has later in life been greatly supple- mented by actual contact with the business world and by extensive home reading. He worked on the farm until he was sixteen years of age, then learned the trade of tile and brick moulder and burner, at which he worked until he was twenty-one years of age, becoming an expert and his services were in great demand. Turning his attention to the mercantile world in 1876 he launched out in the drug business at Fayette, Indiana, and in 1877 began selling clothing and dry goods and was successful from the first as a merchant. He was elected trustee of Perry township, Boone county in 1882 and served four years in a manner that reflected credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned, having been re-elected. In 1886 he came to Lebanon and clerked three years, then went back to Fayette where he engaged in business three years. On June 1, 1891, he opened his present commodious and well kept clothing store in Lebanon, which is complete in every detail, managed under a superb system and where a large and care- fully selected stock is always carried. Through honesty and fair and court- eous dealings he has built up his business to its present large proportions. He draws a large number of customers from all over the county, his store being a favorite gathering-place for farming folk when in the county-seat. He has been very successful in a business way and is rated as one of the county's most substantial and progressive men.
Mr. Smith was married to Emma Frazee, who was born August 30, 1857, in Boone county and here she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of Aaron and Amanda Frazee. Six children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Charles, born January 18, 1881, is now in busi- ness at Altos, Oklahoma ; Alpha A., born January 14, 1885, died January 19, 1886; Carl, born December 14, 1887, is in business with his father; Basil, born November 9, 1898 is attending school; Guy, born September 1, 1894, is at home; David, born September 14, 1891, is engaged in the tailoring busi- ness in Lebanon.
Politically, Mr. Smith is a Democrat and has long been deeply interested and more or less active in public affairs. He is a member of the Baptist church, and fraternally belongs to the Masonic Order, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a Knight Templar ; he also belongs to the Knights
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